The CAME-TV Terapin Rig is a handy shoulder rig & breakout box for Panasonic & Sony mirrorless cameras, providing SDI conversion, XLR audio, DC out power as well as a Sony NP battery plate.
Mirrorless cameras pack quite a video-punch nowadays. Their compact nature can be hugely useful for many sorts of filmmakers, but there’s often a case where mod cons of large camcorders are required.
CAME-TV has announced a product that looks to solve some of those mirrorless, mod-cons deficiencies.
The CAME-TV Terapin Rig is a both a shoulder rig and breakout box; it bulks out your mirrorless camera physically, providing a heavier, more balanced weight on the shoulder.
The shoulder rig is based on standard 15mm rails with an external monitor arm, shoulder pad, plus an optional mattebox & follow focus.
The most intriguing aspect of the Terapin Rig however is the breakout box.
Plumbing into your mirrorless camera with a selection of short cables (as well as a dumb battery), the Terapin box converts HMDI to SDI, 3.5mm audio to XLR with 48v phantom power, provides two DC outputs and also a Sony NP battery plate on the rear.
Audio monitoring can also be controlled through the Terapin rig, and what’s handy is the large, physical pot to adjust headphone volume quickly.
There’s adjusting with the baseplate and shoulder pad to refine balance; the rosette handle also has start/stop triggering. Plus, check out that cool indent for your flipped out monitor?
There are two versions, the CAME-TV Terapin Rig for Panasonic GH4 and GH5. And a Sony version for the Sony A7SII, A7RII and A72.
Within each model there’s a base spec – shoulder rig, breakout box, monitor arm, handle, then an advanced version that adds the aforementioned mattebox and follow focus.
It will be interesting to see how the CAME-TV Terapin Rig performs. Converting video signals and powering audio is never a straight-forward thing; usually something that would exceed the entry-level price tag (especially considering the added rigging bits).
Will update this article with prices and purchase links, but the base spec is looking to be sub $560, and the advanced sub $1200.
Do you think that such a rig is useful and can you see yourself using one of those? Share with us your opinion in the comment section below.

The awaited new phone – RED Hydrogen One – was presented as a working prototype few days ago to invited RED owners at an event in Los Angeles. The final product should hit the stores this august. Here summarize the info and hands-on experience with the holographic device.
RED Hydrogen One – Backside. Photo credit: Phil Holland
RED Event for Hydrogen in Hollywood
On May 19th RED held an event in their studio in Hollywood for an invited audience of RED camera owners and they presented the working prototypes of their RED Hydrogen One phone. Invited guests got a chance to play with the phones and to experience the unique holographic display. Under one condition – they asked that no one should post a photo or video of the display at work. As Jim Jannard mentioned it would “ruin the first impression of it for everyone.” It makes sense: a 2D photo or video cannot transfer the holographic experience to the viewer. Just like HDR can’t be shown on a normal display.
We already posted about the first hands-on with the RED Hydrogen last August, when YouTuber Marques Brownlee got to play with the first “dummy” prototype. At the beginning of this year we reported about updates to the RED Hydrogen phone. Now, after the dedicated RED event, it is clear RED has working (near final) prototypes and they will most likely be able to deliver the final product as promised: The mysterious RED phone should be coming this summer in August to AT&T and Verizon networks in the US (no word about other countries yet). The company plans to ship the pre-ordered phones a bit earlier, in July.
Let’s sum up what we already know about it.
RED Hydrogen One – Frontside. Photo credit: Phil Holland
RED Hydrogen One Specs
5.7-inch 2560 x 1440 display capable of both 2D and Holographic 3D
Android OS
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Processor (slightly outdated)
Two cameras on the back as well as two front-facing cameras (for creating 3D content)
Exposed pins to connect extra modules. So far we know about the large camera sensor module.
It comes in either aluminum version (preorder price: $1,195) or titanium version (preorder price: $1,595)
RED Hydrogen One Testing Booths. Photo credit: Phil Holland
No Smartphone, a “Media Machine”
We don’t know much about the RED Hydrogen One, but the existing specs alone are not somewhat impressive against current smartphone flagships, especially given the price. RED’s new phone is however a category of its own – mainly because of the display, but also because it is supposed to be a part of a new ecosystem RED is creating. The company actually does not want to present this device as a smartphone. Instead, they call it a “media machine”.
Jim Jannard talking to guests at the RED event. Photo credit: Phil Holland
There is a live video from the RED event where we can hear Jim Jannard saying: “RED Hydrogen is not an event, it is a beginning of a very long programme.” See below:
It is supposed to be the first product of a starting ecosystem. That could be the unique selling point for the Hydrogen. If the ecosystem will be good and widely supported with multiple good modules. It is worth noting though, that other manufacturers have already tried and failed delivering a good modular smartphone.
One of the invited guests was Dieter Bohn from The Verge. His hands-on experience with the RED Hydrogen One is nicely summarized in this video:
As Dieter wrote in his article – the phone feels really big. With its 5.7″ display the body is larger than an iPhone 8 Plus. In terms of design it kind of stays in the line with other RED products – talking industrial style with lots of fins and ridges. Many parts of the phone’s body are metal. The phone’s both edges have grip-like scallops for an easier one-handed use. Power button is located on the right edge and it has a fingerprint sensor.
The Mysterious RED Hydrogen Display
The holographic display is RED’s secret weapon (see what I did there?) and should be the phone’s unique selling point. The fact that they are so mysterious about it and only share videos of people’s first reactions reveals how proud they are about the technology. According to RED the experience is “so much better than any 3D technology till now”. The display technology is called 4-view. The idea is that the display should give a “holographic” 3D experience of the content without the need of any glasses.
Dieter tested two different 4-view demos on the phone’s prototype and wrote about it:
In the first, I watched a loop of a bunch of different videos, and what I saw was a big step over 3D on other phones. Essentially, I was able to move and tilt the phone around without the 3D effect becoming broken. It worked in both landscape and portrait, and the depth of the 3D was also better than I’ve seen on a phone before — but, of course, that’s not very strong praise.
The second demo was also impressive. With a Hydrogen One, I was doing a simple video chat with somebody across the room. But this was a “Holo chat,” so both my face and theirs were displayed as holograms in real time. There are two front-facing cameras, as you need two to make a 3D effect.
As for how RED is making this effect happen, it’s complicated to the point of sounding like handy-wavy science fiction filler. Jannard told me that there is a special layer underneaththe LCD display, which, when enabled, is able to direct light in multiple directions instead of the standard two that happen with lenticular displays. RED is also doing more than just combining two images to make standard 3D. I’m told it’s trying to use an algorithm to blend multiple angles from those two lenses to create the effect.
It’s a hologram, basically, but it doesn’t really pop out of the screen so much as give you depth within it. I wouldn’t describe this screen as the reason to go out and buy this phone, but it was neat.
The essential aspect for a new technology is to provide enough content for it. RED is planning to create a streaming service to provide holographic content for the Hydrogen One. The holographic H4V content should be streamable through Hydrogen One Network. It is an app which RED will be launching and which should provide enough content for the phone.
RED Logo on the front side. Photo credit: Phil Holland
Surround Audio by RED
The RED Hydrogen One should also be very capable in terms of audio reproduction. At the RED event guests could try the audio experience both with just the phone and with high end headphones. The A3D Spatial Surround Audio – the 3D sound experience – should be possible with the phone even with a regular stereo audio file. RED’s algorithm should be able to convert the audio in the 3D surround experience. No Film School was also there at the event and they wrote about the sound:
At the demo station an audio file was played through a pair of Bose QuietComfort 35 II noise-cancelling headphones and it was remarkable. It was like sitting in a Dolby Atmos mix. You could hear low end, high end, different EQ, all the panning, the directional changes, depth, movement, distinction in similar sounds… They did have another listening station without headphones and the experience with all the crowd noise around us was just as fruitful. While turning the device in any direction you didn’t lose much sound clarity.
All in all, the new RED Hydrogen One will not be a product for the masses. We don’t know much about the phone yet, for instance there is no info yet about the built-in cameras or memory size. I am curious what the final full specs will be. The overall success of the phone in my opinion depends on the usability of the holographic display and on the quality of the content and the whole new RED Hydrogen environment with the expansion modules. In the end, we don’t know much about the modules yet either. I guess we will soon know more.
Next chance to get your hands on the RED Hydrogen One will be June 2-3 at the AT&T Shape event in Los Angeles, so if you are in the area and feel the need to see the holographic display with own eyes you shouldn’t miss it. Note that a $100 registration is neccessary to visit the event – you can do it here.
Did you pre-order the RED Hydrogen One? What do you think of the hype and specs so far? Feel free to comment below.
Via: The Verge, Red Shark, Nofilmschool, Featured image credit: Phil Holland

The RED Camera Line Up is now much easier to understand with REDs announcement of a unified body with 3 sensors. Here is the idiots guide to understanding the RED line up.
You’d be forgiven if you’ve become utterly lost with what RED does what of late. No Producer I know has a clue what an EPIC is from a Dragon is from a Monstro.
REDs recent announcement makes a lot of sense in unifying their line up, making it much easier to understand.
In a nutshell they have binned off different camera bodies, there is now one camera body, the 3 sensor choices.
Also, the cost is now cheaper, working well for new customers whilst some current customers are outraged at the loss of equity (more on that later).
Forget everything you know – Dragon, Weapon, Epic are gone. Here is the layman’s terms version of the RED Cinema Camera Lineup.
The Body – RED DSMC2
The current RED body you can buy is called the RED DSMC2. The same as ARRI have the Alexa Mini, and Canon have the C300 – REDs camera is called the DSMC2.
Nearly all the features of the camera across the board are now the same, all shoot a minimum of 5K, can shoot ProRes simultaneously to R3D raw, all compatible with REDs current DSMC2 accessories.
Were keeping things simple here and won’t go in to full specs. For that go here.
After selecting your RED DSMC2 camera, you then have a choice of 3 sensors – Monstro, Helium or Gemini.
Sensor 1 – Monstro (The Full Frame one)
The Monstro sensor offers 8K resolution in VistaVision format (VV) up to 60fps. VistaVision is circa Full Frame 35mm territory (sensor chart here). So think of this as the full frame version.
This is the largest RED sensor on offer – The RED DSMC2 Monstro 8K VV.
Sensor 2 – Helium (The Super35 one)
The Helium also offers 8K resolution up to 60fps, but this time in Super35mm format – a more industry standard sensor format.
If the Helium is the Alexa, the Monstro is the Alexa LF.
The RED DSMC 2 Helium 8K S35.
Sensor 3 – Gemini 5K (the Lowlight one)
The Gemini is REDs latest sensor announcement, it has a dual sensitivity modes for darker environments.
You trade off for better low-light for resolution. The Gemini shoots super35mm images in 5K up to 96fps.
The RED DSMC2 Gemini 5K S35.
If you just want the topline, that’s it! One body, 3 sensors, simple. If you want to dig a little deeper, here’s a bit more info.
The Other Models
There are still two other existing RED cameras – the RED Raven and Scarlet-W.
These are the lower end versions – The Scarlet-W is the straight forward super35mm 5K camera.
The RED Raven is the entry-level camera – cropped sensor (4.5K max), fixed EF mount.
The Older Models
At the time of writing, RED only sells the DSMC2, the Scarlet-W and Raven. All other RED cameras are considered legacy cameras.
It’s easy to spot a legacy camera, if it doesn’t have the below Pogo mount (cable-less connection), it is an older legacy RED camera body.
This is where the terms EPIC, Dragon, Mysterium will get thrown about. There’s a little bit of a cross over (i.e Scarlet-W has a Dragon sensor). But ultimately all terms outside of the DMSC2 body, 3 sensors & 2 lower cameras are being binned.
Key to legacy naming:
Weapon – Rebranded with the DSMC2 update
Epic-W – Rebranded with the DSMC2 update
Epic – Legacy camera body
Dragon – Legacy name for a sensor format
Mysterium – Legacy name for a sensor format
RED One – Legacy camera body
The Varying Models
There are still specialist variants you can get of the RED DSMC2 with each sensor.
Some of these include – Monochrome (black and white), Carbon Fibre (physically lighter) and Xenomorph (A David Fincher special).
Resolutions – Full Format Explained
Each Sensor has an optimum resolution – for the Monstro/Helium it’s 8K , for the Gemini it’s 5K.
Gemini/Helium are made to the Super35mm format (near enough), and the Monstro is larger with VistaVision.
The important thing to remember is the full format of the sensor size is available only at the optimum resolution (when shooting raw). Anything below is a crop of the sensor.
It means that if you only want Super35mm at 4K (standard protocol outside of the RED family), it is not always best to seek perceived best in class.
You could obtain more natively from different sensor (a reason why the Scarlet-W is such good value).
The key is always to shoot at optimal resolution, and downscale in post.
Here are graphs to understand how they interact with both super35mm and 35mm stills frame (Interactive comparison tool found here)
Upgrade Paths
As a RED owner you can upgrade with certain camera bodies to the new sensors. Info on that here.
Good News For Everyone?
This recent unification of camera bodies also came with a reduction in price for each camera body, you can see prices below.
So it is now now cheaper to buy a new RED DSMC2 camera.
Whilst the announcement itself adds clarity moving forward, it adds a cloudy, merky horizon for some existing customers.
It’s caused a lot of problems for people already invested in the system, who can now be found in huge amounts of negative equity.
It remains to be seen what the outcome is for these customers, it seems parts of the announcement have been determine with hast, so may take some time to iron a few things out.
“Our Camera lineup as most of you can agree has gotten a little bloated and confusing… So we saw the opportunity to reset everything and we grabbed it.
One body. All Weapon inside. A true, unified DSMC2. Then choose your sensor..
It was painful to get to the above. I actually agreed to this pricing last month with you all on Reduser before the math actually worked out. The math actually didn’t… it was very far away” – Red President Jarred Land on REDuser

Filmstro has just announced an additional tier for accessing their music soundtrack catalogue: The Filmstro Free Music offering. Choose from over 1,000 soundtracks and use them for your non-paid projects. The catch? Those tracks for YouTube or Vimeo usage will be up to 90 seconds long . All tracks are 100% free and YouTube cleared already.
Filmstro: Adapt Music to Your Edit, Not the Other Way Around
If you aren’t familiar with Filmstro’s unique way of adapting their music catalogue to your timeline, read this article to get you up to speed. Basically, it’s all about three sliders: Momentum, Depth and Power. With these you can adapt your choice of soundtrack to your given timeline. Imagine that you adapt the music to your edit, not the other way around.
Filmstro Free Music
The new freemium offering by Filmstro enables you to download any soundtrack you like out of over 1,000 pieces available. You can use that soundtrack for all your non-paid projects even if you have the monetize option on YouTube enabled on your video(s). The only thing that isn’t covered by this free license is paid work. For that you would have to sign up for a paid tier.
And, back to the iconic three sliders, these can’t be used once you downloaded your choice of soundtrack. You can still use them for finding the perfect soundtrack for your given project but after that you won’t be able to tweak the music any further. You get a standard stereo track of music, delivered in an mp3 file.
The new music page on Filmstro.com, complete with Momentum, Depth and Power sliders.
To me, this is a really great way to get familiar with Filmstro’s music library and check out how one of their bespoke soundtracks works with a given timeline. You can use the soundtrack for free, even on Vimeo or Youtube, no catches here. You can use the soundtracks for your personal website, showreel, film festival submissions and screenings (non-distribution), social media, free podcasts, free tutorials, free games, free apps, and crowdfunding videos.
Here is what the founders of Filmstro have to say about their new offering:
We had originally started Filmstro because we wanted to build empowering tools for filmmakers and that ethos hasn’t changed. We’re inspired by companies like HitFilm to create some real value for our community and we think that it’s about time that ‘Freemium’ offerings came to the music industry, and we’re excited about being the company to do that!
The reason why this is labled freemium seems reasonable to me. Once you choose to tweak the downloaded soundtrack even further to your edit, you’ll need a paid subscription (plus the plugin for your NLE of choice, of course). Once you work on a paid project, you’ll need a paid subription, too. Fair enough.
Pricing
Well, it’s free. Once you choose to dig deeper and sign up for a paid subcription you’ll have to choose a plan. For $9.99 you’ll get the same license structure as the Filmstro free music offering but now you can adapt the soundtrack. You can keyframe the music and tweak the three sliders to match the music to your edit. A 30-day pass for $14.99 or an annual tier for $99.99 is also available. Find out about all the options by clicking here.
The Filmstro app.
If you want to use Filmstro for your paid work you want to look at the freelancer tier. Depending on your work you can choose between a $24.99 /month and a $49.99 /month tier. There are plugins for Adobe Premiere Pro and Apple Final Cut Pro X available. You can download the Filmstro app for both Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows.
Links: Filmstro.com
What do you think? Will you give this new Filmstro free music offering a test ride? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Tribeca Film Institute and Google Daydream are now looking for exciting VR (Virtual-Reality) projects in their Immersive Films Program. 5 selected teams will be invited to the VR Lab in New York and will get $40,000 budget and a Yi Halo camera for the duration of the production to realize their project.
Immersive Films Program – VR lab
If you feel like you have a great VR project in your mind but you don’t posses the necessary gear and the money to realize it, Google and Tribeca Film Institute might have solution for you. They teamed up and launched the “Immersive Films Program“. It was created to support creators who want to further explore the medium of virtual reality. They are now accepting applications, until the deadline set to mid of June 2018. The projects or ideas should be realized with the theme “5 Elements of Nature” in mind.
Theme: “5 Elements of Nature”
The Tribeca Film Institute further specifies the theme 5 Elements of Nature like this:
From ancient civilizations and outer space, to our bodies and daily consumption, we want you to activate your senses and use the 5 marvelous elements of nature (EARTH, WATER, WIND, FIRE, SPACE) to explore futurism, politics, reality, fiction, or any topic you are passionate about.
It is clear that they want to see something new and groundbreaking, some new perspectives on VR, it’s an invitation to experiment and let imagination create freely. The final project or idea should however be possible to realise within the provided budget and time-span (roughly two months for the production part).
US Participants Only
They are looking for strong teams made up of various talents or creators. The size of the team is not limited, but for the VR Lab only 3-5 members will be able to attend. It is important to add that only US-based teams or teams with the majority of members based in the U.S. can apply for the program. Applications will be selected based on the strength of the team, the originality of the idea, and the feasibility of the project given the budget and time period.
Teams Receive: VR Lab Event in New York, $40,000 Budget, Yi Halo camera
The selected 5 teams (projects) will need to attend a two-day VR Lab Event in New York City at the end of July 2018. The travel expenses to and from New York (within the U.S.) will be covered. Each team will receive $40,000, a Yi Halo camera as well as free unlimited stitching via Jump, and Google technical support. For the production part the promoter encourages to film inside the United States. It is possible to take the equipment abroad but the team will need to file for a carnet for the camera and be 100% responsible for it.
Submission of Films to Top Tier Film Festivals
The promoter will encourage all pieces to submit to top tier film festivals. Their selection will be based on merit at Tribeca Film Festival or otherwise. There is no obligation to premier the piece at any particular festival though. It is also allowed to secure additional funds for the project. Any additional funder or partners of the project however must be approved by the executive producers: Tribeca Film Institute and Google.
Immersive Films Program – Hard Facts
Award: $40,000, Yi Halo camera for the duration of the production, Jump stitching, two-day lab & technical support
Application Deadline: Mid-June 2018
Announcing winners: July 2018
Two-day Lab: End of July 2018
Production deadline: September/October 2018
Post-production deadline: November/December 2018
If your team is interested to apply for the Immersive Films Program go ahead and check the online application here.
Are you thinking about giving it a try? What do you think of VR, do you produce your own VR content? Let us know in the comments below.